FIG. 1 depicts a side view of a conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10. The magnetic recording apparatus 10 may be a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) apparatus. The conventional magnetic apparatus 10 includes a read apparatus 12 and a write apparatus 20. The conventional read apparatus 12 includes shields 14 and 18 and sensor 16. The read sensor 16 is typically a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor or tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) sensor. The write apparatus 20 includes a first or return pole 22, coils 24 and 32, back gap, auxiliary poles 28, main pole 30 and shield 34. Although not shown, the pole 30 may have leading and/or trailing edge bevels. In such cases, the pole 30 is shortest in the down track direction at the ABS.
Although the conventional magnetic recording head 10 functions, there are drawbacks. In particular, the conventional magnetic recording head 10 may not perform sufficiently at higher recording densities and higher recording speeds. For example, as recording areal density approaches 1 Tb/in2 and above, the data recording rate may exceed 2.2 Gb/s. High data rates require rapid changes in the magnetic flux provided by the pole 22. The pole 22 may not have sufficiently low rise time for the magnetic flux. The write field provided by the main pole 30 may also be desired to meet particular standards, such as magnitude and gradient. The pole 22 may not be capable of meeting these standards. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving the performance of a magnetic recording head, particularly at higher areal densities.